1/4 Birr - Menelik II

Ethiopia's silver coinage of this period emerged directly from Menelik II's campaign to assert international legitimacy following the decisive defeat of Italian forces at Adwa in 1896 — the most significant military victory of an African nation against a European colonial power in the continent's modern history. The coinage was struck in Paris at the Monnaie de Paris, a deliberate diplomatic signal that Ethiopia could engage European institutions on its own terms.

The series spans a date range that straddles Adwa, making earlier strikes particularly resonant historically. KM#3 is sometimes found with die alignment inconsistencies attributable to the Paris facility handling an unfamiliar denomination system.